Linger chords

How to play Linger

Play Linger with D, A, C and G, using standard tuning and no capo. The chart provides a steady open-chord accompaniment with a simple downstroke pulse. The long holds are part of the exercise: keep counting through all four boxes of a chord before changing. Knowing the four shapes is only half the task; you also need to know when the next one arrives.

Count the repeated boxes

Each box on this page lasts one four-beat bar. Play D for four bars, A for four, C for four and G for four before returning to D. Count the first beat of each bar as one, two, three and four in turn, while keeping the remaining beats even. That helps you remember where you are without adding an extra bar at the end of a line.

This follows the long-hold accompaniment in Jo Bywater’s teaching arrangement. Her two-bar rhythm is played twice on each chord; the chart here uses a simpler one-bar pulse four times instead. The main loop supports section practice. It does not replace the distinct picking introduction and ending, and the page does not label one pass of the loop as the complete song.

Start the strum on the right bass string

Our D diagram is x-x-0-2-3-2. Begin the sweep at the fourth string so that an accidental low E does not sit underneath it. A is x-0-2-2-2-0, starting on the fifth string. Leave the sixth string silent for C as well; its diagram is x-3-2-0-1-0. G uses 3-2-0-0-0-3 and can include all six strings.

Pick through each shape once before strumming. On C, an angled third finger can accidentally touch the open fourth string. On D, the second finger can brush the second string. Small changes in fingertip angle often solve a dull note more effectively than squeezing harder. Then alternate just G and D: that return changes both the hand shape and the lowest string you should strike.

Keep the simple pulse through the changes

The grid D . D . D . D . means four downstrokes per bar, one on each numbered beat. The dots are the intervening eighth-note positions. Keep your hand moving back up between attacks without touching the strings. Tap your foot at the same pace so a difficult left-hand change does not stretch the last beat.

Use quiet, narrow sweeps while learning the loop. Let a chorus grow through a wider sweep and a little more weight, while keeping the count unchanged. The linked lesson also teaches a longer rhythm with changing accents; this page deliberately starts with its easiest downstroke option. The loop plays at a 90 BPM practice speed because this chart does not specify a recording tempo. If that is too quick, practise more slowly with a separate metronome before using the loop.

Hear the C natural before changing key

The C major chord contains C, E and G. Its C natural differs from the C# found in the ordinary D major scale. In relation to D, its root is the lowered seventh degree, which is why the chord can be described as flat-seven. Keep C major in the loop rather than replacing it with a diatonic chord just because the song is D-centred.

If the vocal range feels awkward, move the complete four-chord sequence with the transpose control. Reset before comparing the result with the open shapes above. Adding a capo at fret 2 while keeping these fingerings raises the sequence to E–B–D–A; it changes the sounding pitch even though your fingers make familiar shapes.

The chord order, four-bar holds and easiest strum were checked against Jo Bywater’s Linger lesson. The fingering checks and counting exercise above refer to this page’s accompaniment.